Arrow Core Values
The Arrow Team.
Core Values:
What do we do with Core Values?
We label them accurately. We do not want to be caught up arguing about words. After all, its not the words that matter the most – it is the precious cargo that they point towards. They are merely the suitcases that hold meanings within. However, we must work hard at ensuring that we are using the same labels for the important suitcases so that we can protect the things that we value the most.
We think about them frequently. There are many things to think about on any given day. The urgent, the global, the painful, the exciting – these all lift and sway and burden and shape us in different ways. The act of thinking on something forms it within us. Like a bull chewing on grass, we allow a large thought to be broken down within us until it actually forms us.
We govern by them consistently. It is easy to talk about good things when everything is good. The place where goodness is most powerful is when eveyrthing around it is not. Values glimmer like diamonds when they are celebrated in sparkling light. But they function best when they are pushed against the hard steel edge and they prevail. Awe is a choice. Reflection is a discipline. Respect is a posture. Ownership is a position. They stand in all circumstances, are powerful in any situation, are necessary with all personalities and are possible over all problems. We insist on these in ourselves and we help one another by calling each other up to these.
We define ourselves by them globally. Not everyone chooses to live life this way. Most spend most of their life working out how they want to spend their life. Others struggle to find others to join them in their choice of life values. Many get caught up in religious and social groups that place limits and legislation upon who and how these realities can be accessed. We however, have the unique opportunity to live together, work together and build together a distinctive culture that will transcend denominational categories and shape families, businesses and movements all around the world.
1. Awe. A childlike appreciation of the wonder of life.
Realising that something greater is going on here.
We make an effort to be present to the wonder and the mystery that is at the heart of each person and each person’s experience. We do this with an acknowledgement of the mundane realities that repetitively bore us and the manipulative personalities that seek to take advantage of us. Nonetheless, we insist on the possibility and the potential of a greater good within each human being that, given the right conditions, will, with time be worth the risk.
Ways to keep yourself ‘fresh’.
A. Spend time obsessing over things that you authentically feel are ‘worth’ your worship.
B. Practice being present to the mysteries that fill your world with wonder.
C. Set aside spaces and places in your day where you deliberately stop filling your thoughts with things that are not ‘worth’ your worship. (Even though you may have pragmatic reasons why you ‘should’)
D. Engage your ‘right brain’ creativity with drawing, singing, poetry, storytelling.
E. Step back far enough to be able to see the ‘top line’.
2. Reflection. The humble discipline of authentic personal growth.
Knowing that something deeper is moving in me.
It is our regular deliberate habit to call one another into the intentional cycle of action and reflection. This is the engine of our personal growth and the test of our inner health. We, after all, are in a city where no one will nag us about the things that form us. At best, our exams will get graded or our inspectors will fine us. We can dodge questions from overseas, we can make up stories for our friends. But if we are to truly grow, we must make time to be true to ourselves – and to act upon what we see. Each ‘reality experience’ – every temper tantrum, awestruck moment, panic attack, bitter disappointment, bored disconnect, delighted – no matter how unpleasant or incomprehensible, opens up a new discovery. We do not believe that such experiences should be avoided, endured, or hidden. Rather, they should be savoured, shared and celebrated with trusted friends as the best parts of the journey!
Questions to ask in your reflection.
A. How’s Life? What character/story/role best describes you at the moment? What colour/shape/size are you at the moment? On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate yourself at the moment? Why?
B. What’s been happening? What events have been significant in shaping how you are today? What stories have you got from the past few weeks? Which people have made an impression on you recently? What movies, songs, podcasts, books, pictures, websites, conversations have been catching your eye? When do you last remember feeling very angry, sad, disappointed, ashamed – or very happy, excited, proud, satisfied?
C. What does that mean to you – and why? Why is that so important to you? How did you reach that conclusion? Who taught you to think this way? Where did you get that idea from? What experience (from your past) does this remind you of? How does this help/hinder your dreams and plans? How has your upbringing influenced the way you are responding to this?
D. What’s your next step? Can you imagine a different alternative? How might this look from a different point of view? What would happen if you chose a different path? If money weren’t an issue, what would you do? If you didn’t have to worry about pleasing your parents what would you do differently? If you could ask God for 1 thing, what would it be?
3. Respect. A gracious trust in another’s value despite their price.
Trusting that something important is happening in you.
Every human wants to be respected. Every human needs to be respected. Whether someone respects you – or even respect themselves – is their own choice. But regardless of whether or not they know it, they, as humans, are beings of infinite potential and eternal worth. The consequences of ignoring this truth is devastating. Humans who are devalued by others, devalue themselves and then devalue others. Although some may find a devalued human useful in some mechanical way, the loss of their potential creativity and the flow-down effect on others makes it an unacceptable cost to society. We do not consider there to be any valid justification for devaluing a human being – whether by religious category, intellectual capacity, financial worth, personality type or social standing. Far from simply developing a passive tolerance for other’s differences, we seek to cultivate an active appreciation for the deeper promise that every human carries and yearns for.
Practices to cultivate respect for others (and hence, respect for oneself):
A. The practice of honour. Like someone panning for gold, give weight to the things that deserve it. 101% Rule: find the 1% that is honourable and give it 100% of your attention.
B. The practice of contrary thinking: arguing your case from the other point of view.
C. The practice of self management: identifying and dealing with your own bottom line issues separately.
D. The practice of securing common ground:
4. Ownership. Responsible submission to a worthwhile vision.
Understanding that something good has been entrusted to us.
When it comes to moving something forward, we use the ‘we’ language. When it comes to defending something sliding backward, we use the ‘I’ language as much as possible. This is because we understand that if anything is going to improve, we all need to work together. And because we know that nothing gets done unless someone takes the blame. This willingness to take the blame is rooted in the deep security that we are most secure when we are most willing to take the blame. We are most ‘right’ when we are willing to believe for the right even when everything is going ‘wrong’.
The [Hard] Work of Clarifying Ownership
A. Stewardship: Securing and lowering our team’s bottom line.
B. Leadership: Clarifying and raising our team’s top line.
C. Conflict management: Identifying and acknowledging different people’s top and bottom lines. Tension is a normal and a healthy part of balanced teams.
